M: Worlds First Universal Digital Camera!

While the new M may be an amazing product, it saddens me to have photography be driven by technology at such a fast rate from year to year. Calm down. Take photos.

+1. I am pretty stoked about Leica's offering, but I think Raid has the right idea. Now where'd I put that XP1?

Ben
 
Am I the only one tired of the whole "lens character" thing. Seriously? Not being able to use 15 different lenses of the same focal length on one camera has limited your artistic way of expressing yourself all the years? Gimme a break... I've yet to see one case where a swirly, a painterly, a harsh or whatever bokeh "brush" used, made the difference between a good and a bad photo.

That M looks like a nice camera, though.

Didn't someone do a blind study of lenses and basically non one could tell one lens from the otehr consistently?

THe more I look, the better the M seems and the odder the ME seems.
 
Didn't someone do a blind study of lenses and basically non one could tell one lens from the otehr consistently?

THe more I look, the better the M seems and the odder the ME seems.

I have many lenses that I can look at the photo and tell the difference. Of course, they are like a Brownie Hawkeye Flash, a Polaroid Color Pack II, an Instamatic lens mounted on my Leica, plus 4 or 5 more for my Pentax6x7.

What is a M camera?
 
Wow! So much negativity! The Leica M is probably the most important camera body ever released since the Contax ND (first FF digital) in its historic value as the first true mirrorless FF and has been very well received by most people on all forums!


I don't agrree. I think the reception here has been very positive over all. Where were you when the M8 was introduced ... because that was a sh!t fight! :D

I'm no Leica fan boy but I'm very impressed with this camera because Leica has done what needed to be done and not a lot more ... there is exactly the right balance of technology and tradition in the new M for me.

And incredibly they have done at a price that has surprised us all ... I congratulate them. That still won't stop me 'dissing it' when they bring it out in white or camouflage though! :p
 
Am I the only one tired of the whole "lens character" thing. Seriously? Not being able to use 15 different lenses of the same focal length on one camera has limited your artistic way of expressing yourself all the years? Gimme a break... I've yet to see one case where a swirly, a painterly, a harsh or whatever bokeh "brush" used, made the difference between a good and a bad photo.

That M looks like a nice camera, though.

Thank you.
 
What struck me is this, and Leica beat them all to it. This M is the worlds first truly universal full frame digital camera meaning with adapters, you can use ANY lens EVER made for a 35mm camera. ...

This is sort of true... especially if you include the term "full frame". However, the Fuji X-Pro1 is quite capable in this arena as well. I'm currently using Zuiko OM-mount, Zeiss Flektogon Exakta-mount, Nikon F-mount, and Minolta MC-mount lenses on the XP1.
 
Out of curosity what lenses can't you mount on the original 5D that came out eons ago? Surely that has to be given the mantle of the first full frame digital camera that became a lens mount for so many people.
 
It is not tedious. It is revolutionary. It is the beginning of the end of proprietary lens mounts.

Am I far out enough on a limb here?

Ben.

The revolution was begun by the micro four thirds folk... not Leica. M4/3 owners have been enjoying the use of multiple lens mount types on M4/3 cameras for years now. Leica has just figured out that the mirrorless camera model is chewing up a lot of market share.
 
Wow! So much negativity! The Leica M is probably the most important camera body ever released since the Contax ND (first FF digital) in its historic value as the first true mirrorless FF and has been very well received by most people on all forums!

Problem for Leica is, however, that the non-FF mirrorless camera manufacturers have already created a HUGE foothold in the marketplace, and a lot of photographers have grown accustomed to using adapted lenses on those cameras, even though they are not FF. So will the "M" become 'historic'... my guess is not. Now, the M8 and M9 might hold historic status someday, given all the "never can be done" rants they put to rest. :)
 
The revolution was begun by the micro four thirds folk... not Leica. M4/3 owners have been enjoying the use of multiple lens mount types on M4/3 cameras for years now. Leica has just figured out that the mirrorless camera model is chewing up a lot of market share.

Bingo.

As for Leica's M camera - I've said it before and I'll say it again until I see some proper testing (and not just a bunch of older guys fondling the camera exclaiming how wonderful it is and how it changes their views on life, art, and their understanding of the space/time continuum) the sensor is an unknown variable made by a company that has not put any sensors in ANY mass manufactured camera.

Let's all cool our jets on both ends of the spectrum and wait for some testing to be done and some RAW images to be produced (that can be downloaded etc.) before claiming that the M is the Antichrist or the Second Coming....

Dave
 
Out of curosity what lenses can't you mount on the original 5D that came out eons ago? Surely that has to be given the mantle of the first full frame digital camera that became a lens mount for so many people.

I nearly ponied up for a 5D for that specific purpose. You can simply go to eBay and type in Canon lens adapter and you'll get hundreds of hits that cover everything from Exakta to Nikon to Olympus to Minolta... on and on.
 
Leica M = Ricoh GXR M in FF. Wheeee!

And with the optical rangefinder, there's the best of both worlds. I rather wish that Leica had followed Fuji and made a hybrid viewfinder, which would have eliminated the need for an external clip-on, but them's the breaks.

I hold a fair bit of hope about this new CMOS sensor, given that the output of the Ricoh GXR-M is surprisingly similar to the M9. Not the same, but with a strangely familiar feeling to the sharpness, the way the images are rendered, etc. If the GXR-M, with its customized Sony sensor, is getting into the same look as the M9, I am very optimistic about how the new sensor from CMOSIS is going to do.
 
It is clear CMOSIS is now under great pressure to deliver the goods. Right now CMOSIS has less than 45 employees. Their facility is only has 1000 sq meters of floor space and their clean room has only 100 square meters. Not only does the new sensor have to be close to state-of-the-art, but CMOSIS has to produce them in sufficient quantities while keeping the reject rate down.

No doubt CMOSIS can produce a sensor right now that meets Leica's standards (otherwise Leice is taking a tremendous, needless risk). The real issue is can CMOSIS deliver M sensors quickly and efficiently.
 
I am not Leica fanboy, I see why someone likes the new product it and I also see why somebody else doesn't. I don't think it has not been received well, the problem as usual is that if really the ability to mount many lenses on a FF sensor is what will call buyers then Sony and maybe also Canicon can produce almost the same functions at a fraction of the price (the almost is due to the fact that they are not allowed to put a red dot on their cameras). Unless really producing digital sensors becomes so easy that many small companies such as those mentioned in previous posts appear it is still a tough life for small camera producer who used to rely only on their ability to produce lenses when they have to fight against guys like Sony. Despite this I feel that we are going into a very nice direction, just a few years back it looked like film would not be available and good digital cameras had to be ugly and huge, now my only problem is that there are too many cameras I like and I don't have the money to buy all of them...:D

GLF
 
There is an easy solution: Just buy one , your choice of course.

I know, I know, just kidding, I am perfectly happy with what I have and I think the next photographic tools I shall buy will be a new studio flash head and the Pocket wizard Mini TT1 for the SB strobes I already use. Just saying because I am amazed at how many criticisms one read in these groups, no matter which new product come out. Let's face it: these days even bad cameras are great. We no longer have excuse for the bad picture we get, any time it's our mistake, never a camera limitation (sometimes I find this a bit depressing, especially when something goes wrong in a session). I recognize tough that these discussions are funny...:D

GLF
 
CMOSIS has to produce them in sufficient quantities while keeping the reject rate down.

Somebody has to produce them in sufficient quantities - the lab area and equipment listed make it quite obvious that CMOSIS don't produce themselves, but are a R&D shop.
 
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